The Siege of Jadotville (film)
| writer = | starring = | cinematography = Nikolaus Summerer | editing = Alex Mackie | music = Joseph Trapanese | distributor = Netflix | released = | runtime = 108 minutes | country = Ireland South Africa | language = English Irish French German | budget = }} The Siege of Jadotville is a 2016 historical drama war film directed by Richie Smyth and written by Kevin Brodbin. The film is based on Declan Power's book, The Siege at Jadotville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle (2005), about an Irish Army unit's role in the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo in September 1961. First screened at the 2016 Galway Film Festival, the film received a limited cinema distribution in Ireland in September 2016. It had simultaneous worldwide distribution on Netflix and in a number of US iPic Theaters during October 2016. It won three Irish Film & Television Awards, including Best Director. Plot The film opens with the assassination of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and the outbreak of civil war. As the mineral rich State of Katanga secedes under the leadership of Moise Tshombe, United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld assigns Conor Cruise O'Brien to head up a UN peacekeeping mission. Privately, Hammarskjöld tells O'Brien that the Katanga crisis could potentially trigger World War III and orders the Irish diplomat to take offensive action. Meanwhile, Irish Army Commandant Pat Quinlan commands an infantry company of Irish peacekeepers who arrive at the UN compound near Jadotville. After examining the compound, Quinlan decides that it is wide open to attack and orders his men to dig trenches and defensive fighting positions. While buying food in the nearest town, Quinlan meets French mercenary Rene Faulques, who has been hired by the mining companies allied to Tshombe's government. Afterwards, he visits the estate of a Belgian colonist, Madam LaFongagne, who tells him that Jadotville contains the world's richest uranium deposits. Meanwhile, O'Brien orders UN forces to launch an attack against Government buildings held by the Katangese in Elizabethville. While Indian peacekeepers are attempting to seize the city's radio station, thirty unarmed Katangese are killed by gunfire and grenades. O'Brien orders the incident to be swept under the rug. In retaliation, Faulques receives orders to attack Jadotville. Katangese forces and mercenaries under Faulques' command attack and besiege the Irish. During a brief ceasefire, Faulques vainly demands Quinlan's surrender. Quinlan refuses, and his company is attacked repeatedly in separate waves by the Katangese and mercenary forces. They kill a total of 300 enemy soldiers, and wound 1,000 enemy soldiers, with zero deaths and only 16 wounded for the Irish. After many extended waves of battle, the Irish company is forced to surrender to Faulques's troops after running out of ammunition. They are held in a Katangese prison for about a month, then are freed in a prisoner exchange deal and are allowed to go home. Selected cast * Jamie Dornan as Commandant Pat Quinlan * Mark Strong as Conor Cruise O'Brien * Mikael Persbrandt as Dag Hammarskjöld * Danny Sapani as Moise Tshombe * Jason O'Mara as Sergeant Jack Prendergast * Michael McElhatton as General McEntee * Guillaume Canet as Rene Faulques * Fiona Glascott as Carmel Quinlan * Emmanuelle Seigner as Madame LaFontagne * Sam Keeley as Billy (Sniper) Ready * Conor MacNeill as Radio op * Luc Van Gunderbeeck as Charles de Gaulle Production The film is based on Declan Power's non-fiction book, The Siege at Jadotville: The Irish Army's Forgotten Battle (2005). It covers the Siege of Jadotville, a conflict involving Irish Army UN Peacekeepers and Katangese forces during the Congo Crisis in September 1961. The actors were put through a training camp in South Africa before filming. "There's nothing worse than watching actors acting like they're in an action movie, pretending to run upstairs with guns and look serious," said director Ritchie Smythe. "The best way to get them to do that realistically is just to train them to be soldiers, so I did." Actor Jamie Dornan said the real veterans "didn't get the recognition they deserved. In fact the opposite. They got that term Jadotville Jacks. They have had to live with that and they appreciate any light that can be shone on their heroics." Reception At the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 60% based on 10 reviews, and the average rating is 6.2/10. The New York Times called it "a gripping drama." A review in The Hollywood Reporter described the battlefield scenes as an "impressive spectacle", but said that the non-battle scenes were less so, and the conclusions "too rushed". Robert Yaniz, Jr. of We Got This Covered rated the film 70%, observing: "Though it doesn't break any new ground, The Siege of Jadotville is a well-crafted piece of filmmaking that investigates the often-contentious relationship between politics and war." Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times rated the film 50%, describing it as: "A scrappy war flick with a fair amount of combat suspense but a whole lot of clichéd dialogue." Accolades References External links * Siege of Jadotville'' on Netflix * Category:2016 films Category:2010s war films Category:English-language films Category:Netflix original films Category:Cold War films Category:Congo Crisis Category:Films set in 1961 Category:Films set in Dublin (city) Category:Films set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Category:Films set in Manhattan Category:Films based on non-fiction books Category:War films based on actual events Category:Films about the United Nations Category:Films shot in South Africa Category:Irish films Category:State of Katanga Category:Siege films